Frozen Waters: Book 4: Family
by Kenjiro Minami
Summary: So much to say, with so little time. A lot of what you read here is important. It's when Danny and I first became more than just an "us". It's when everything became "ours" instead of "yours" or "mine". It's when... Well. It's when we became a family. Danny, his father, and I. We became family. And, quite possible, we might be expecting more in our family. Just a matter of time...
1. Chapter 1

**Picking up from where we left off in the previous book...**

...

The first thing I did was panic when Danny proposed to me. I cried, too, both in joy _and_ in my panic. I was also afraid. I don't know why I was afraid, but I was. I guess it was because of how soon he had proposed to me. Just over a year together, and he proposes on our _very first_ date. It scared me, and all I could do was stare because of it. I stared at Danny and the ring, crying as my whirlwind of emotions kept me frozen, mute as my thoughts and stomach churned, giving me the sensation of needing to throw up, and also the desire to do just so. But everything inside me was just as frozen as the out, the only thing functioning inside me my heart, barely beating as I tried to process everything in front of me.

I watched, still frozen as Danny bit his lip, hesitating. "Love...?"

Should I say yes? It was hard to decide if I should or not. I don't know why. I mean, I _loved_ him so goddamn much. Danny meant _every_ thing to me. I _wanted_ to be with him for the rest of my life. But... What about everything that had happened between us before? I was finally able to grasp a thought, one from when he had ignored me for an entire week. He had _hurt_ me then, emotionally, causing me to hurt myself by starving myself, however unintentional that was on both our ends. But he had _tried_ to fix it, to make me see that he still loved me, and he had said that he had tried every day since I stopped leaving my cabin to find me and apologize for every little bit of pain he could have possibly caused me. And he had meant it. He had given me his promise that very day, too, the promise that had lead up to this point, the day- _this_ day, _today,_ when he was going to propose to me. But then there was his lack of confidence since my depression. I wanted him to be confident about _every_ thing before he had proposed. Maybe not _everything_ , but all the things that he had once been confident about _before_ the accident in the Medical Building. I wanted my timidly bold Danny back _everyday_. But... then again... he _was_ being that very Danny I wanted right then and there, bold about asking me to marry him, and timid in front of all of the people.

I opened my mouth, trying to get words out to answer him, but my throat and mouth suddenly turned dry, and I was unable to do so, suddenly mute.

Danny bit his lip once more, and he waited a few more minutes in silence for an answer from me. People had begun to gather, noticing our positions, eye-balling us as though we were a painting, just waiting to spring to life. The crowd was relatively small, but large enough to bring me discomfort. A couple of them were whooping and shouting at me to say "yes", even though they didn't know me and Danny one bit. Danny seemed uncomfortable with the people, sending them nervous glances as he tried to figure out what else to say to me to get me to say "yes".

"Just say yes already, damn it!" Someone in the crowd shouted at me. I winced at their shout, and let in a shuddering breath, thinking over the past year once more. I rubbed my face with a hand, pulling my hair out of my eyes, keeping my mouth covered with my other hand, hiding my wide and disbelieving smile from Danny.

When he appeared just about to give up, just about to close the black velvet box with the silver ring that had three blue, three red gems on it, I was finally able to speak.

"Yes." I told him, voice barely a whisper. Danny blinked, freezing in his movements, seemingly making sure he had heard me right. The people in the crowd closest to me went quiet when I whispered my answer, and soon the whole crowd was hushed, hanging on a golden thread, waiting for my single-word answer that would determine the rest of both mine and Danny's lives.

After awhile, when I didn't say anything more, Danny finally spoke up. "L-love? C-could you repeat for me, pl-please?" He asked hesitantly once the crowd was completely hushed.

I wiped at my eyes, finally removing my hand from my mouth as I did, showing Danny my wide smile. I nodded, running a hand through my hair again, pulling back my disobedient curls once more. "Y-yes," I cried, my emotions finally settling on joy. Pure, over-whelming, loving joy, and nothing less than that. "Yes. I-I would _l-love_ to marry you, D-Danny."

The half-hippocampus blinked his deep blue eyes, processing my words, before he grinned madly. The crowd around us started cheering, making a cacophony of boisterous noise as he gently grabbed my left hand, removing the ring from the box it was in, slipping it on to my ring finger to rest there along with the ring he had used to give me his promise. I continued to cry as he did, ignoring the crowd for the time being as Danny brought my hand up and kissed the top of both the rings, keeping his eyes locked with mine as he did, my inner joy reflecting from his deep blue eyes.

Suddenly, someone started to chant a specific word in the crowd, and a few people joined in, though most continued to just cheer and shout their praises and some blessings for a well and full life. But the one word that kept being repeated I couldn't ignore, and neither could Danny, and we both grinned when we heard it. The few people chanting the single word, punching the air with their fists as they did, kept chanting to us "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Danny glanced at them and chuckled, leaning in close to me, neither of us bothered by the crowd any longer, more rather enjoying them so more people than just the two of us could enjoy and remember this moment forever. "Shall we?" He whispered to me.

I gave him a sly smile. "I don't know... _should_ we?"

"I think we should." Danny stood up from where he had been kneeling on the ground in front of me, tugging me up with him. The people continued to chant as we stood, and Danny wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. I looked up at him as he lifted a hand and brushed my hair back, tucking it behind my ears before cupping my cheek and pressing his lips to mine, sealing the memory of that day in our minds and hearts forever.

...

 **A boosh. Book 4, chapter one... _complete_. Booyah. B)**


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day was great. Danny took me out for dinner, where we- mostly _I_ \- talked about the possible things that would happen in our future together as husband and wife. I mean, we still had the _wedding_ to take care of, but that wasn't the focus of our night in Salem. Our main focus was _us_ that night, not the wedding. What we were going to do _after_ the wedding, not before it. We just knew that we weren't going to have the wedding for another seven or eight months. We wanted to give ourselves time to prepare, to find ourselves a place to settle into first. We set aside a year, max, for the wedding to be set in stone on a date.

We were still talking about it when we got back to camp, and a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Hey, Danny?" I suddenly asked, stopping half-way through the sentence I was saying.

He tilted his head, sitting down on top of our bed. "Yes, love?"

"Do you know your parents?"

He frowned slightly at the question. He was silent for a few moments, seemingly trying to think about it. "I... I don't know... I... I haven't seen them in such a long time... I don't even know if they're _alive_. Cyril's dad... He... he beat up my father when he wouldn't let him take me away to do this." He gestured to the cabin, and I knew what he was talking about, nodding. "I don't know if he's still alive. He looked like he wasn't when... when Damianos took me away." He got tears in his eyes as he continued to speak. "I don't know if he's alive, and if he is, I don't know where he is. I..." He let in a shuddering breath and wiped at his eyes. "W-why do you ask, love?"

I bit my lip and rested a hand on his arm, sitting down next to him as I did. "I'm sorry... I... I was asking, because I was wondering if you wanted to invite him to our wedding."

He let in another shaky breath, bringing up his other hand to his arm, putting his larger one over my smaller one. "Love, I don't think he's alive..." He murmured.

"Well, we can still try to contact him. Best to try, right?" I asked, trying to keep up hope for Danny.

He sighed. "I guess..."

I frowned slightly, but immediately smiled again to try and get him to cheer up, hoping desperately that his father was alive. He didn't speak of his mother when I had asked if he knew his parents, so I didn't ask him about her, instead sticking to the topic of his father. "Do you know his name? If you know it, we can see if we can get an Iris message his way. Do you want to do that?"

Danny silently nodded. He dropped his hand from mine on his arm and lowered it to his jeans, dragging a finger along a worn down spot, picking a little at the exposed white cotton strands.

I bit my lip. "Could you by chance tell me what his name is?" I asked, removing my hand from his arm and reaching into my pocket for the drachma I always carried in case of emergencies.

"... Adam. I... I think it was Adam. Adam... Adam Rivera. I think that that was his name..."

"And was he your hippocampus parent?"

Danny nodded.

"Then I'm _sure_ he's alive." I nodded, smiling softly. "As they say, 'like father like son', and seeing how much you have fought through, for... for _me_... I'm _sure_ he's still alive, fighting for _you_ now like he was then, when Cyril's father took you away from him. Come on. Let's go see if we can contact him."

Danny bit his lip and nodded to my words. He stood up, but didn't move to the bathroom, which was where we needed to go to create a rainbow to Iris message his dad if he was alive. He stood there for awhile before sitting back down on the edge of the bed, confusing clouding his deep blue eyes. "How are we going to do that, love?"

I smiled softly at his confusion. "We send him an Iris message, of course. That's, like the _main_ and _sure_ way of making sure he's alive."

He nodded, still looking confused, but didn't object. I gave him a small kiss on his forehead before standing up off our bed, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the Hypnos cabin bathroom. I created a rainbow with the shower hose, making the water run mist by taking the head off of it and pressing my thumb in the way of the stream, and I gave Danny a small smile. He gave me a small, fearful one back, half hiding behind the bathroom door. My smile saddened at his hesitance and fear , and I turned back to the rainbow in the shower water. I took a deep breath, praying to all the gods and goddesses of the Underworld that Danny's father Adam wasn't in either level of it, Tartarus or any of the fields.

Opening my eyes, I tossed in the drachma coin waiting in my hand. It disappeared into the rainbow I had created with a soft _ding_ similar to one of an elevators.

" _Who would you wish to contact?_ " A female voice, one I was assuming was Iris's, the rainbow goddess herself, asked after a few moments of neither Danny or I saying anything.

I bit my lip and looked at Danny, who was looking nervous as he hid in his spot behind the bathroom door still. I gave him a small smile, but he didn't seem to notice, his eyes glued onto the rainbow, looking desperate for an answer to his question of his father's existence or nonexistence.

" _Who would you wish to contact?_ " Iris's voice spoke up again.

Taking a deep breath, I finally was able to get the words out of my mouth. "Contact hippocampus Adam Rivera." I told it, and we waited for something, or nothing, to show.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wooo! Skippy had her birthday, yesterday, so happy belated birthday, Skippy! :D**

 ***whispers*** ** _you're getting so old…._**

 **…**

We waited several long moments before a voice spoke up from the mist-generated rainbow. Nothing appeared when the voice spoke, and it only succeeded in settling dread into my stomach.

" _We're sorry,_ " a female voice, one I assumed to be Iris, spoke from the rainbow. " _But the person you are trying to contact is unavailable at this time. Please try contacting them again at another time, say a different person you wish to speak to, or stay on hold until the person you were initially trying to contact is available_."

I gave Danny a look, and I could see him biting his lip, holding back his questions and clearly afraid of the answers he would possibly receive to them. So I took the initiative and spoke up instead, directing my words to Iris.

"Is Adam Rivera alive?"

There was another pause before Iris spoke again. " _I'm sorry. I am not authorized to tell of the existence of any particular being. Please be sure to try to contact someone you know is still on the surface and not residing in the Underworld_."

I grit my teeth and clenched my fists. "That's bull. Is the freaking hippocampus Adam Rivera, father of _Daniel_ Rivera, who is _right_ _here_ with me, still alive?"

Iris didn't miss a beat this time. " _I'm sorry, but I'm not authorized to allow anyone to contact a monster. Please try again with a different name_."

Gods. And this was why I had never Iris Messaged anybody before, besides the fact that I didn't know anybody outside of camp. But Iris was really starting to piss me off, and Danny could see this. He came away from his spot from behind the door and stood behind my, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. He grabbed one of my clenched fists with his own hand and rubbed the top of mine soothingly, helping to calm me down a little, but not entirely. Once again Danny noticed, and he duck his head down to my ear.

"It's okay, love," he murmured into my ear, tickling me with his breath, but I was too furious to squirm or giggle at the tickle. He rubbed his nose against my cheek, helping calm me down a little more at the simple display of affection. "You tried, and I couldn't be more grateful for you doing so in order to make me happy. But you've done all you can. There's nothing more to do. He just… he won't be able to come, if he is still alive."

The sadness that he was trying to hide in his voice killed me, and at that moment I wanted nothing more than to cry. Danny didn't understand how important this was to me. I didn't have anybody that would want to attend our wedding. My entire family was dead. I'd never be able to see them again until I died, too. If there was even a sliver of a chance that Danny's dad was still alive…

Stubbornness was quick to cut the line-up of my emotions and welcome itself to the front. I wasn't going to give up reaching Danny's dad that easily. You would need to kill me before I gave up, and even then I probably wouldn't. You'd probably need to toss me into the cellar without windows and chain the door after making sure the cellar was completely empty. I'd probably still find a way to pursue my stubborn ambitions, though, so you'd have to be real clever to stop me.

I quickly searched my mind for something to help give me some leverage on Iris, something that could help persuade her into connecting us with Adam Rivera if he was still alive. Which he was. I knew he was. I could tell by the way Iris had spoken the first time. He was _unavailable at this time_ , which meant he was _alive_. Unavailable wasn't a term Iris used when speaking about a dead person. I knew that much after having had to use her message system once before on a quest. I had been trying to contact Zavid, and Iris had said he was "unavailable at the moment". I had tried to contact him again an hour later, and he answered then. So I _knew_ Adam was still alive. It was just a matter of getting Iris to connect us to him.

Danny saw my look of concentration, and he wrapped his arms tighter around me. "Love, please. It's okay. I don't need to see him again."

"Yes, you do, Danny." I argued, and suddenly, I had it. I had a way to get Iris to connect us with Adam Rivera. All women had a soft spot for it. I knew personally that they did, being one myself. I wasn't sure if Iris was one of the few it didn't effect, but it was worth a shot.

As I had said earlier, I had wanted nothing more than to cry. Well, despite that feeling being gone, my tears were still fighting against their barrier. All I had to do was blink rapidly a few times, and before I knew it, I had tears streaming down my face, and, since it seemed nothing was escaping Danny that day, my fiancé was soon quickly trying to wipe them away.

"Oh, please, love," he begged me, wiping away my tears as I waited for the right time to start sobbing. "Please. D-don't cry. It's okay. Please. Stop crying. You know how much it hurts me to see you cry."

I thought then was a more than perfect time to start sobbing, so I did. "I-I-I-I'm sorry. I-I-I j-just r-r-really wanted h-him to b-b-be there, a-a-and n-now h-he c-can't beca-because I-Iri-Iris isn't l-letting u-us ta-talk to hi-him." I cried.

Danny bit his lip. "Love, it's okay. He doesn't need to be th-"

"Yes he does!" I may or may not have over-dramatized my shout, but neither Danny nor Iris seemed to notice it as I continued to sniff and cry my fake tears. "W-w-we o-only get m-m-married o-once, Da-Danny," I cried. "I-it's n-not the same wh-wh-when we re-renew our vows. I-i-it just is-isn't! H-he n- _needs_ to be th-there wh-when we get m-married."

At this point, I wasn't entirely sure if my tears were still fake. I think I was actually crying, now, because I really _did_ want Danny's dad to be there when we got married. It was true what I had said, in my opinion. It _wasn't_ the same when we renewed our vows. We could wear whatever we wanted then. I'd only get to blow all my money on a beautiful white dress- a color I didn't much like, but Danny said I looked good in- once. I mean, I wouldn't be blowing _all of_ my money on the dress. I had enough money in my families savings account, as well as the inheritance money given to me that I had put in that account, with enough interest over the years since they had all died, that I could buy us a house, a car, probably a couple pets, and enough furniture to furnish the house so we were comfortable in one sitting without getting a job. Probably not that much furniture, like maybe just a bed, a couch, a table to eat at, and a few other things. But I could still buy that, as well as the dress for our wedding. But how often would I be wearing that dress? Not very often, considering I don't like wearing dresses, and I don't appreciate wearing white. I'd probably only wear it the first time to try it on, and take it off immediately after. Then the second time would be for the wedding, which I'd take it off immediately after, too. I mean, I'm going to be honest here. I'm a rather messy person. I'd probably end up getting the white dress stained with spaghetti sauce or something, even if it wasn't even there at the wedding. That's just how talented I am. I'd also be afraid of getting a bloody nose, something I commonly get, while I was wearing the dress, and I don't know how kindly they'd treat me if I tried to return it with a blood stain that would probably cover the entire chest area of the white wedding dress.

Woah. Got way off topic there. Alright… Let's just continue where we left off, why don't we? What Danny said in response to my words…

The half-hippocampus who had recently become my fiancé let out a high-pitched whimper, clearly unsure of what to do about my tears. He danced on his feet behind me, removing his arms from around my waist as he tried to figure out what to say to get me to stop crying my not-so-fake-anymore tears. Iris beat him to the cut, however, finally speaking after her long silence.

" _This man with you… he is the monsters son?_ " She asked, keeping her voice just as level and robotic sounding as before.

I nodded, lifting my hands to wipe at my tears since Danny was no longer doing so, still half-dancing behind me as he tried to figure out what to do, though his movements weren't so frantic once Iris started talking. I sniffed and intentionally moved my left hand as I wiped my tears away so that the two rings, one the promise and the other our engagement ring, glinted in the light so that Iris could see them, if she even saw the people on the sides of the rainbow when talking to them.

" _I see, I see…_ " She was no longer keeping up the robotic tone, sounding thoughtful as she spoke now. " _And… you two are to be wedded soon, I presume_?"

Good, good… We were getting somewhere with her, finally. Either she had taken notice to the rings, or she _had_ been listening when I had mentioned the wedding. Either way, she had been paying attention, and with a bit of convincing and sad sob-stories from me, she might finally let us talk to Adam.

Again, I nodded, still sniffing. "Y-yes. W-we are."

" _How…_ _peculiar_ _…. A demigod…. And a monster offspring…_ "

I felt a little agitated at that, the way she called us peculiar, and I couldn't help but to get defensive on the matter. "I-it m-may be p-pecul-peculiar, b-but I-I l-love Danny, a-and I couldn't h-h-have asked f-for any-anyone better to-to fall in l-love w-with th-than h-him."

I may have sapped that up a bit too much, no doubt thanks to my annoyingly corny romantic flare, but Danny seemed to like it. His arms returned to be around me, making me jump in surprise, and he began nuzzling my cheek again, no longer dancing behind me and panicking on words he couldn't figure out to say in order to get me to stop crying. I couldn't help but to smile softly at that, and I lowered my hands to rest lightly on his arms. I saw Danny smile out of the corner of my eye, and he removed an arm from around me to lightly take up one of my hands in his.

I still wasn't sure if Iris was watching us, but she must have been, because after a while of Danny nuzzling my cheek and giving it a few kisses, she sighed. " _Very well,_ " the rainbow goddess said. " _I shall connect you to this…. Adam._ "

I couldn't help but to grin at that. Danny froze in his nuzzling, much to my dismay, to look at the rainbow with shock. I lifted one of my hands and wiped at my tears, brushing the remaining ones away from my face.

"Th-thank you, I-Iris. Th-this means a-a lot to m-me."

I couldn't believe it, but the goddess scoffed at me. " _Yeah, yeah. Just don't tell anyone I'm doing this. I don't know how many calls monsters are going to start trying to make…_ "

"But Adam is going to be an acceptation, right?" I asked hopefully. "He'll be allowed to contact us whenever, right? We don't always have to be the ones to contact him?"

Iris was silent for a while before speaking again. " _… We'll see._ "

I was confused on what she meant by that, and Danny appeared to be confused as well. But neither of us got the chance to ask her about it, because the rainbow suddenly morphed itself into a scene with a man at his desk, working on some papers and muttering a few things.

I blinked when I saw him. If I hadn't known any better with Danny standing right behind me, I would have sworn that the man in front of us in the rainbow was him, if you took away the concentration crease that seemed to be etched permanently onto his forehead, and the missing chin stubble, and the clear height difference between them, even with the man sitting down. He appeared to be in his late forties, though with monsters, including hippocampi, it was hard to tell just how old they really were. He had dark brown hair, and I'm pretty sure he had the same deep blue eyes as Danny did. Unlike Danny, there wasn't a single hair on his face, clean shaven to perfection. I couldn't believe it, but even sitting down, he looked taller than Danny was, and Danny was pretty tall, almost a foot taller than me. It amazed me to think that there could possibly be someone alive taller than Danny, even though Cyril- ah… the bad memories…- even though that brute bad been almost three feet taller than the six-foot-five half-hippocampus.

I blinked again when it processed that Adam was a _man_. I pointed to the rainbow and gave Danny a questioning look. He noticed my questioning look, and dipped his head down so he could whisper in my ear.

"He can change forms, like the gods can." He whispered. "Between hippocampus and human."

That immediately shut down the weird images of a hippocampus and a human woman going at it, much to my relief. "Oh, okay. That makes more sense." _Much_ more sense on how Danny was conceived….

Danny chuckled and nuzzled my cheek, though his chuckle was soft so as to not alert his father that we were waiting for him to notice us. I smiled softly at his affection towards me, and eyed Adam a bit more. They really did look similar, so similar that they could easily pass off as identical twins with a major height difference.

I felt a sneeze building up, and I took a few quick breaths as it built up. Danny seemed to panic, clearly not ready for any noise to indicate that we were there, but before he could help me prevent it, my annoying squeak- sneeze escaped me.

Adam seemed to be startled out of his concentration when I sneezed, and his head shot up, looking frantically around the room he was in. His eyes passed over us once before they quickly shot back over. Despite Danny's now quickening breath as he brought me closer to his body until I was pressed up against him, I couldn't help but to try and see what color Adam's eyes were for sure, not feeling the same panic as he was. They were a deep blue, like Danny's, but they seemed to be a bit deeper, somehow. Almost black, with a bit of green. They were quite interesting to look at…

"Um… May I help you?"

Adam's deep voice startled me out of the strange trance his eyes had put me in. I hadn't realized I was on edge, and I jumped. Danny let out a yelp of surprise and probably pain when the top of my head hit against his lower jaw, probably taking his current status of "so-nervous-I-need-to-bite-my-tongue" into a literal tongue-bite and most likely a tongue-bleed accompanying the bite.

I quickly turned around to face Danny, bringing my hands up to his face and momentarily forgetting about Adam as I half-forced Danny to turn his head every which way to investigate any possible damage he may have received when I had jumped. "Oh my gods. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. Are you okay?"

He rubbed his chin tenderly, seeming to have forgotten about Adam at the moment, too. "Yeah… yeah. I'm fine. It's okay, love. I know you didn't mean to." He made a face before turning to the sink and spitting out a little bit of saliva and blood. "Gross."

I couldn't help but to laugh a little, relieved I hadn't hurt him too badly when I jumped.

I turned around when Adam cleared his throat behind me. Once he had my attention again, he raised an eyebrow at us. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure who either of you two are, and I see that this is an Iris Message, so one of you clearly knows who I am, and I don't take too kindly to that. Mind telling me who you are?"

I blinked at his words. I guess the saying "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" didn't much apply to Danny and Adam. When I had first talked to Danny and had known his name through eaves-dropping and had spoken to him the first time by calling him his name, he had been _super_ peppy and upbeat about it, not at all like the semi-hostile Adam Rivera before us.

I glanced over my shoulder at Danny, who had his brows furrowed in a similar way as Adam's brows were. I looked back at the Iris Message. "I'm sorry, Mister Rivera. I'm Ty Winters, the only known daughter of Hypnos here at Camp Phoenix. And… I think you already know who this is, if you just took a longer look at him." I gestured to Danny, who was still spitting a little bit of blood into the sink and checking his tongue in the mirror, sticking it out so he could look at it better than if he kept it in his mouth.

Adam narrowed his perplexing blue eyes and looked at Danny suspiciously. Danny froze in his tongue-checking after a few seconds of being stared down intently by his father, and he turned around, facing him, his own deep blue eyes wide. I watched Adam blink once Danny was looking at him, and the full-hippocampus' eyes widened to be giant almost-black saucers. My eyes darted back to Danny, making me feel like I was watching some show on television as he lifted a hand and gave his father a nervous smile and wave before spitting into the sink once more.

"… _Daniel_?" Adam asked in disbelief after a while. I couldn't help my sigh of relief when Adam recognized him. Danny's father glanced at me when he heard my sigh, but his attention quickly returned to Danny.

Danny was looking at me, unsure of what to say or do. I remained silent, waiting for him to figure it out himself. After a couple of moments, Danny gave up on looking for my help, and spoke for himself. "Hey… dad."

"I… I don't understand. I saw him take you. I saw Damainos take you away…." He blinked before shaking his head. "Where is he now? Where are you? Are you safe? Oh god…. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you better…"

Danny appeared to feel bombarded by Adam's questions, and he kept stammering out words that really had no relevance to the questions he had been asked. I waited a couple of seconds, but when Danny seemed to still be unable to ground himself and form proper words, I took the initiative.

"I'm not sure where Damianos is, Mister Rivera," I told Danny's father. I tried not to shrink back when his gaze landed on me. Though it was now soft since he knew who we were now, and fatherly when he glanced at Danny, as well as other emotions I couldn't decipher, I still had a hard time under his gaze while I was speaking to him. I never was good at talking to adults, or I guess people older than me. I guess I wasn't good at talking to people in general. Danny was the only person I could have a solid conversation with without feeling uncomfortable. But I forced myself to not shrink back so I didn't make Adam feel like I was intimidated by him.

"I… We're at Camp Phoenix, i-in Oregon. Danny's s-"

"Isn't that the demigod camp?" Adam interrupted. He realized he had interrupted me, and he blinked. "Sorry… Um… Proceed, please…. Ty, was it?"

I swallowed thickly and nodded, still unnerved speaking directly to him, even if it wasn't exactly direct and face-to-face in person. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm Ty. And… yes, it is the demigod camp in Oregon. Danny and the other twelve half-monsters arrived here last year, though he's the only one still at this camp. He helped protect the camp against them… That's why he's still here. Zavid, our camp director, let him stay, and only him, because he was the only one who fought for the camp. He warned him, too. He warned Zavid that Cyril was planning to attack, and he became a hero. He saved mine and everybody else's lives at this camp by doing so. It was during the school year, and the camp was already adjusting to its lower numbers after most of everybody left for school. We would have had no chance of surviving if Danny hadn't warned him. I mean, I didn't fight. I was hurt from events that had occurred before hand. I wouldn't have even been able to fight, anyways. I'm such a wimp… I don't know how to fight, even though I've been at this camp for twelve years. I couldn't _possibly_ bring myse-"

"Love, Ty." Danny murmured, resting a hand on my arm. "You're doing it again."

I blinked. "Doing what again?" I asked him before what he meant by "it" clicked in. I felt horrified that I had begun to ramble, and I quickly started to sputter apologies. "Oh my gods. I'm so sorry, Adam. I didn't mean to ramble! I just do that when I'm nervous. I get nervous _really_ easily. Oh my gods. I'm starting to ramble again. I'm so sorry." I groaned and buried my face in my hands, wincing when both Danny and Adam started to laugh in amusement. I sent Danny a menacing glare, but it only made him laugh harder.

After a couple of moments, Adam was able to get a hold of himself, though Danny was still chuckling in the background. "Ah…" Danny's father said. "It's quite alright, Ty."

Danny only chuckled in his agreement. I gave my new fiancé a gentle nudge with my hip to get him to stop laughing at me, and he wrapped his arms around me, bringing me close to him to kiss my cheek, and keeping me close after he had done so. I smiled widely when he kissed my cheek, and I leaned half of my weight against Danny, comfortable in his arms. I glanced at Adam, and saw he had an eyebrow raised at us. I quickly averted my gaze, feeling myself turn a little red and trying to hide that fact in Danny's shirt.

"I take it you two are a… ah… thing?" Adam asked hesitantly. Both Danny and I nodded in response. I tried to speak up, but I was too embarrassed being caught by an adult, so Danny beat me to the chase.

"That's… uh… actually why we called you. We… well…" He gave my cheek another small kiss. "Ty and I are engaged, and she wanted you there at our wedding."

Adam blinked. "Really?" He asked, his voice betraying his shocked expression. He sounded… disappointed. Not disappointed to the fact that we were getting married. He seemed excited by that. I guess it was more of disappointment to how their lives had turned out. I could see it, in his eyes. The lingering sadness he had missing eleven years of his son's life. I could tell it hurt him. I'm sure it would hurt _me_. If I had missed any number of years of my son or daughters lives- if we ever chose to have kids- I'd be devastated. I probably wouldn't even feel like they needed me anymore, and I could tell Adam was struggling with that now. He wanted to have watched his son grow up, to be there to teach Danny how to ride a bike, or watch football, or do some other parent-child things with Danny. But he had only gotten seven years to do that before Danny was taken away from him, and it hurt him, no doubt. I realized then, looking at Adam after Danny had given him the news of our engagement, how much it could hurt being a parent. You never knew when something unexpected like Cyril's father coming and taking your child away could happen. You never knew just how fast they would grow up and start pushing you away, saying that they didn't need you anymore and were ready to face the world on their own. And that hurt Adam, making me wish that I was able to turn back time to allow them those eleven years they had missed together, while still having Danny end up at Camp Phoenix last year when they did.

Danny didn't seem to notice Adam's hidden expression, because he nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah. She cried over it and everything." He chuckled softly and gave me a light squeeze. I squeaked when he did that, like I always did when I was squeezed, and he chuckled.

"Did she?" Adam asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "But you know nothing about me. Why would you want me there at the wedding?"

"Danny still loves you. He misses you, too. He's even had nightmares about the day he was taken away from you. If you mean that much to him to be haunting your dreams, and to make him cry when he thought you were dead, then… I think I know enough about you to know for sure that I want you at our wedding."

Adam smiled warmly at that, but I wasn't done talking.

"Plus," I continued," you guys haven't seen each other in _eleven_ years. Coming up on twelve, I think. I don't know. But it's been a long time. I lost my family around Christmas twelve years ago. I know what it feels like for Danny, losing all you had. And for you. I'm more than positive you didn't know what to do with him missing. And for twelve or something years at that, too. You two deserve to see each other again. You two actually have the _option_ of seeing each other again. I don't. And family means so much to me… I feel that the two of you should take the gift presented to you now, and get to know each other. Ignore the twelve years that you two missed. They don't matter, and I know they weren't exactly note-worthy for Danny, either. Just use the time you two have now, and… well… use it." I shrugged.

Adam was still smiling warmly at me when I finished. He was silent for a while, seemingly gathering his words before he spoke. "… Thank you, Ty. That… that means a lot, you doing that for us."

I smiled widely at that, but before I got a chance to respond, the one-minute warning chime went off from the rainbow on both ends.

Danny furrowed his brows at the noise and started looking around as both Adam and I began looking frantic. "What's that noise?" Danny asked.

"One minute left to talk to him," I spewed before turning to Adam. "Okay… Um… We need your phone number, because Iris might not let us message you again. It took a lot of convincing for her to do so this time. And… um…"

"Address?" Adam offered hopefully. "You're going to visit before the wedding, right?"

I glanced at Danny, and saw him nodding, looking saddened that he only had a minute left with his father. I turned back to Adam and nodded as well. "Y-yes. We're going to visit before the wedding."

That made Adam grin, and he began to list off some numbers to me. I repeated them silently in my head until he was done, and then proceeded to repeat them back to him. Adam nodded when I repeated the m successfully.

"Yes. Thank you again, Ty, for doing this for us. I'm looking forward to meeting you two in person. It's a huge relief knowing you're alive and well, Danny, and I hope to see you again soon."

Danny smiled warmly at that. "You will, father. Maybe in a month?"

Adam smiled. "I'd enjoy that, yes." He said. The Iris Message turned red, and Adam sighed. "I'll see you two then." He said before getting up and waving a hand through his end of the connection, making his office room turn back into the rainbow it originally was on our side of the message. After a few moments, the rainbow disappeared, and the water turned itself off, no longer creating the mist, and when I tried to turn it back on, it wouldn't budge, a clear sign from Iris that she didn't want us making any more calls for the time being.

I let out a squeak when Danny suddenly squeezed me to his body tightly. "Thank you so much, love," he murmured, giving my neck a small kiss. "Gods. Thank you so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, s-"

"Okay, okay!" I laughed. "I get it." I turned around in his arms. "' _You have saved our lives. We are truly grateful_.'" I joked, quoting the aliens from Toy Story. Danny grinned when I quoted it, understanding for once a quote I have made, since we had watched the movie together last week.

"So now you're comparing me to a toy?"

"Pft. No. I'm comparing you to _aliens_. There's a difference, you know. Comparing you to a toy… blech. So many inappropriate things can be taken from that." I made a face.

Danny tilted his head, not understanding. "What do you mean by that, love?"

I waved my hand. "Doesn't matter." I said, poking his cheek. "We should get going to bed." I poked his cheek again and grinned when it squished beneath my finger. Danny chuckled at my grin, and nodded, scooping me up into his arms and causing me to yelp.

"Then bed we shall go, my love." He murmured, giving my lips a small kiss before carrying me off to our bed.

 **…**

 **LONG CHAPTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**


	4. Chapter 4

Danny was more cheerful the following day. I mean, he's a pretty cheerful guy in general, but you should have _seen_ him! He was all grins and laughs, and it took me _hours_ to get him to stop skipping around like a little girl. He kept hugging me tightly, so tight that he made it hard for me to breath because my lungs couldn't expand any as I inhaled. He apologized after, but then would soon resume skipping around. He was _that_ joyous, that happy to know his father was still alive. It made me kind of...

Jealous?

No, no. That's not the right word. I wasn't jealous over the fact that Danny's dad was alive. I've already made peace with the fact that I would never see my family again until I died and joined them in the Underworld. I guess I felt more...

Unimportant.

I had never been able to get Danny that happy before. Never had I made him so happy that he would skip around wherever he went. I had never been able to get him to grin or smile nonstop for six hours. He hadn't held me as much as he had the day after we learned his father was alive any of the days before. He hadn't given my cheeks as many small kisses as he had that day after we learned his father was alive. And that just made me feel...

Saddened, I guess. I don't know why. It just made me feel that way. Danny didn't seem to notice though, but that was okay. I wasn't very important. He was more important than me. He was happy, ecstatic with the knowledge of his family. I was happy, too, because he was happy.

... Wasn't I?

I don't think I was. I mean, I _tried_ to be as ecstatic as he was about the whole thing, but I couldn't be. I kept thinking... Why couldn't that be me? Why did Danny's life have to be so much better than mine, even with what had happened the eleven years he had been away from his dad? He had family. I... I didn't.

I tried not to cry. I really did. Danny didn't seem to notice me wiping away my tears. I was okay with that, though. I didn't _want_ him to notice. If he did, he wouldn't be happy anymore. He'd be concerned about me, and I didn't want him to be. I was being childish. I wanted my Mom. I wanted her to hold me again like she had used to hold me before she had died. Why couldn't I have that? Was it too bad of me to ask for my Mom back in my life, like Adam was in Danny's?

I really tried for him to not notice that I was crying. I really did. I took a two hour long shower and everything to escape Danny for a few moments and to calm myself. I cried as I did. I couldn't help it. I tried not to, but I did. I just wanted my Mom back. Why couldn't I have her back?

After my shower, I hid myself in my books. My books always helped me, especially the fairy tales. The Grimm ones. Those ones were always good. They were more realistic than the Disney ones, because nobody got a "Happily Ever After". They got a "Dead After All That Crap That Happened" story line, and the girl was never happy. Or they were happy for a few moments before turning into complete snobs and trying to kill everyone. And for some reason I liked that. Maybe not for some reason, since I do know the reason I like them. It's because they're worse off than I am. Everybody is. Or they're meaner than I am and get all the good stuff, while the people nicer than me get tossed into the dumps. Cinderella met her Charming, but he ran off with the snob sisters. Ariel lost her voice for Eric, but he ran off with his mistress and left her to rot alone as a human with no voice, putting silent crying to a literal term since she could utter no sound. It made me feel... better.

I sort of wished I was like those girls, or that my story was told, because I felt like those girls. I felt like my life was just another story written by the hands of the Grimm brothers. Why did I feel that way? I don't know. Maybe because I felt like Danny's ecstatic state would turn to betrayal as I read the Grimm stories. I don't know why I thought that. I really don't. I was just... really sad right then, you know? I couldn't help the thoughts that I was thinking. I couldn't help the tears that were leaking. I couldn't help the silent beating, telling me what to do and what to stop seeing. I couldn't help any of it. I was lost in my own thoughts, my thoughts of heartbreaks and heartbeats. I was lost in my fountains, flowing tears of those very hearts- I was thinking about. And I told myself to not think about them, but I couldn't. I pummeled myself mentally to try and get the thoughts to stop, but they wouldn't.

Danny finally seemed to notice my seclusion after an hour of me reading from my book of the Grimm brothers' work. I had begun to draw out the story of Little Red when he came into the Hypnos cabin's walk-in closet, which is where I was reading my book mounted on a pile of spare blankets and pillows. He gave me this weird look when he saw me reading and drawing in there, and he took a seat beside me as I finished drawing the wolf devouring Red's Grandma. He eyed the drawing for a little while, and I could tell he was feeling a bit uneasy, so I flipped it over. He seemed less tense at that until he read a couple of the words on the page that I was using to help me draw out Red's story.

"Love... are you alright?" He asked me after a few moments. I nodded silently, beginning to draw on the clean side of my paper. He watched me for a little while again before speaking once more. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I responded quietly.

Danny furrowed his brows. "You don't look alright."

"Well... I am."

Danny sighed. "I'm sorry..."

I furrowed my brows this time and looked up at him. "For what? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes I have."

"Well... What did you do wrong?"

"... I don't know."

I couldn't help but to chuckle at that. I lifted a hand and brushed some hair out of my face. "Then you don't have anything to be sorry for, sweetie."

He smiled when I chuckled. "Are you sure there's nothing for me to be sorry for?"

I nodded. "I'm sure."

Danny suddenly got a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Positive? Because I'm about to do something, and you're probably not going to like it. But I'm not going to be terribly sorry about it, because it might make you laugh, and I love hearing your laugh."

My eyebrows furrowed more. "What are y-"

I yelped as he suddenly started to tickle me, and I tried to fight him off before I started laughing. Danny was too eager to tickle me, though, so it made it impossible for me to get away from him or for me to get _him_ away from _me_ , and I started to laugh. Danny grinned widely as I squirmed under his hands and laughed as he quickly poked around my sides and tickled me. Danny straddled me on the pile of blankets and pillows to keep my lower half from squirming as he tickled me, making it easier for him and harder for me to attempt at getting away. He kept tickling me until I started to hiccup, something that happens to me if I laugh for too long and too hard, and his grin only widened when I started to do so.

"St-stop!" I laughed, hiccuping.

"Nope!" Danny laughed, still tickling me. "Say you love me, first! You haven't all day. Say it!"

Him telling me to say it made me not want to, and I shook my head, still laughing and trying to get his hands away from me. "N-no! St-stop first!" I hiccuped.

"More tickles!"

I squeaked as he started to tickle me more, and tried to grab my book of Grimm fairy tales to use it to block him from tickling me, but once Danny saw me reaching for it, he grabbed it, pausing in his tickling to move it away from me. He closed my book and set it down on a shelf before grinning down at me. I had managed to calm down my laughter, but I was still hiccuping. I squeaked when he moved his hands to tickle me again, but much to my gratitude, he didn't resume tickling me, more so just hovered his hands above my sides.

"Say you love me." He said, still grinning widely.

I shook my head, giggling a little. "Yo-you're going to tick-tickle me again!"

"I won't if you tell me you love me!"

I shook my head once more, and Danny's grin slowly fell. He sighed, leaning down and giving my forehead a small kiss before sitting back up straight. "I respect your decision, then, love." He murmured before getting off of me.

I bit my lip, still hiccuping occasionally as Danny sat down on the pile of blankets beside me. I watched him pick up the book he would always ask me to read to him, his most favorite from my collection, my book of _Disney_ fairy tales, and watched him as he tried to read it, the first time I had ever seen him read. He appeared to keep getting stuck on a word, even though most of them were simple words that all elementary grade and beyond people could read. I sat up and, still hiccuping, gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Danny turned his head and looked at me with his frustratingly deep blue eyes, confusion clear on his face. I tried giving him a small smile, but he didn't smile back. I let my smile fall, and I sighed. Standing up, I left the closet and went to our bed, climbing in under the covers to try and take a nap, hoping it would help me clear my still full and slightly- foggy mind a bit more than reading he Grimm stories had.

Just when I was about to fall asleep, my hiccups gone, Danny joined me in our bed, shaking it slightly as he climbed in, startling me back to be fully awake again. I rolled over to see Danny staring up at the ceiling as he laid with me, the back of his left hand on his forehead. He had put a couple of inches between us, so when I rolled over his elbow only slightly grazed my forehead. Danny didn't seem to notice, or he just didn't care. Whatever the case, he didn't move after I had rolled over. He didn't even glance at me, and it made me want to cry again. And I started to, too. I couldn't help it, just like how I couldn't help my earlier tears. I rolled back over to be facing away from Danny as I cried, removing my pillow from underneath my head and hugging it, crying into it so Danny wouldn't hear me. He never liked it when I cried. _I_ never liked it when I cried. It was stupid. It made me weak, or at least weaker than I already was. It was just proof that I wasn't strong enough to not cry. It put nasty thoughts into my mind every time I did cry, thoughts like Danny shouldn't want to marry me, because I was too weak to be strong enough for him to not cry.

"Ty?" Danny asked in concern after awhile. I buried my face in my pillow, trying to pretend to be asleep, but unable to as I cried. The bed dipped as Danny rolled onto his side, bringing up a hand and rubbing my arm. "Love, are you alright?" I stayed silent, save for my muffled sobs into the pillow, and Danny sighed. " _Please_ , Ty. Can you _please_ tell me what's wrong? Was it something I did?"

I shook my head, not removing my face from where it was at in my pillow. "N-no."

"Then why won't you tell me that you love me?" He asked softly, moving my hair away from my face to lightly run his thumb across the bit of my cheek that was exposed. I didn't respond to him, and he sighed. "Would you like me to hold you?"

Again, I didn't respond, trying to gather my thoughts so that I could try and speak to him, to try and tell him what was wrong, even though I didn't know the reason, or at least I didn't _think_ I knew the reason as to why I was crying. But I took too long to try and respond to Danny, and he sighed once more, removing his warm fingers from my cheek.

"You don't want to marry me." He murmured more than asked. "That's it, right? You know you could have just said no yesterday, right? You didn't have to say yes, love. I would have understood..."

I blinked and quickly shook my head, horrified that he would think that. Removing my face from the pillow, I finally spoke. "N-no. That's not it a-at all, Danny."

"Then why won't you tell me you love me?"

"I... I don't know. I just... I-I don't feel t-too well." I told him, wiping at my eyes. I guess that was why I was crying... I mean, I _didn't_ feel too well. I didn't know what was wrong, but I didn't feel well. That's all I knew. But I hadn't realized that until I had said that. Earlier I had been fine, I think, but once I said that I wasn't feeling well, I suddenly wanted to do nothing but lie in bed, sleep, and probably throw up, too.

Danny grabbed my arm gently and semi-forced me to roll over and face him. He had a small frown on his face as he removed the pillow from my arms, bringing up a hand to fell my forehead. His frown deepened. "Love... you feel really warm. I think you might be sick."

Okay... I wasn't the only one to have suddenly noticed my not-feeling well. Danny would have noticed when he had kissed my forehead in the closet, but he must not have been paying any attention, then. But then again, maybe I wasn't really sick. Maybe I was only warm because I was crying. That happened to me, sometimes. Sometimes when I cried my face would turn red because I was crying too hard. Or maybe my brain was trying to convert my inner turmoil, my desire to have my mom back, into something physical. Emotionally, I had felt sick all day. Maybe my brain was making me _actually_ sick because I was so emotionally sick of everything that day. That seemed like the best reason. So I wasn't actually sick. It was just... the brains power over the body, I guess.

Shaking my head, I told him I wasn't sick, because I _knew_ I wasn't, because of my quick deductions. I just _felt_ sick. Danny appeared confused by my conclusion, but stopped trying to convince me that I had a fever. He did, however, press the matter of my verbal communication.

"Can you please tell me why you haven't told me that you love me today?" My fiance asked, gently wiping my tears away from my face.

"I-i-it has nothing to do w-with you."

"Are you sure...?"

"I-I'm sure."

"Then can you please tell me that you love me? It makes me feel like I've done something wrong when you don't tell me that..."

The way he trailed off, I knew he was thinking about when I had made us become only friends after he had snapped in the Medical Building, and I knew he was mentally beating himself up over it once more. So I nodded before letting in a shuddering breath. "I l-love you, Danny. S-so much. I-it... th-this has n-nothing to do w-with wh-whether or not I-I want to m-marry you, because I d-do. I-I _really_ do w-want to marry you. B-but A-Adam..." I trailed off, unsure of how to continue telling Danny why I was crying so much, why I had secluded myself in my cabin's closet.

"Is it because I keep talking about my father?" Danny asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Is that why you're cr-"

"No!" I suddenly shouted, startling Danny. He blinked his deep blue eyes in shock, and I let in a shuddering breath before speaking. "I-i-it's because y-you get to h-have your father a-at our w-wedding, a-and I-I-"

"You want your mom to be there, too." Danny murmured softly in understanding. He knew about my mom, that I had lost her when I was seven years old, the age Danny was when he was taken away from his father. He knew the story behind her death, too, and that even now, at the age of nineteen, twelve years after she had died, I was still mourning over her death. But that story, for you guys, is for another time. Now... I just want to stay with this, what happened the day after we had contacted Danny's father.

Nodding, I sniffed and wiped at my eyes, trying not to cry more. "I-I want my mom, Danny. I-it isn't f-fair. Wh-why can't she s-see us g-get married, t-too?"

My fiance sighed softly and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him and holding me close as I cried. He didn't respond to my mournful question as he began to hum softly, rubbing my back as I buried my face in his shirt. Danny sat up as he held me, making me sit up as well as I continued to cry.

"It's okay, love," Danny murmured as he rubbed my back.. "Everything will be okay. You'll see her again one day. But for now, stay happy for me, okay? I'm sure she would have _loved_ to be there, but I'm also sure she would love for you to enjoy the moments you have."

I let in a shuddering breath and nodded to his words, but didn't try to respond. Danny gave the top of my head a small kiss and pulled me closer to him until I was curled up in his lap. He continued to hum and hold me, and I started to feel better. I wasn't feeling unimportant anymore. Danny... he always had a way of making me feel that way, had a way of making me feel important and loved, and I loved it. I was glad I had Danny there with me. He knew how to make me feel better, no matter what. And... I was glad I was going to marry him, no matter now long it took until we actually said our vows and were officially bonded together. I mean... we already were, through our love for each other, but... not in the eyes of the government. I wanted that to happen, because... well... Danny was my one true love. I loved him with all my heart, and he loved me with all his heart, I'm sure of it. I mean, there was nothing he did that could possibly say otherwise. We made each other happy. It was only right that we were to be married in the next year or two, depending on how slow we wanted to take things. The happiness might not last long, but it might last longer than long. I don't know. It was all just a matter that only time could tell. But I'm sure whatever the story it wanted to write for the two of us, for Danny and I, it would be well worth the clocks time.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ty?"

"Yes, Danny?"

"What's this ' _Halloween_ ' everyone here at camp is so excited about?"

It's been two months after my little... ah... "I- Feel- Completely- Useless- Weak- And- Unimportant" episode, and it was nearing the end of October, stirring up giggles, scares, and pranks from all who stayed at camp. A lot of the people who lived in the Western states or near Washington, Oregon, and California, had driven over to spend time with the still small number of people who stayed at camp over the school year. We still had yet to leave camp to go see Adam, Danny's father. We kept trying to, but my inherited bank card kept coming up with some sort of error saying that I was not yet eligible to be using it. We had talked to Zavid about that last month, in September, and he said it was because he had to sign some papers saying I was old enough and was able to take care of myself, blah blah blah, because technically, even after living at camp for twelve years, I was still an orphan in the eyes of the government, even though I was _legally_ an adult in their eyes because I was nineteen, too.

It was just a big mess. And add that on top of the papers Zavid kept forgetting to sign, and _couldn't_ sign because he couldn't _read_ English very well, it was just a bigger mess, and it was clear we weren't going to be meeting Adam in person anytime soon. We _did_ , however, talk to him on the Big House phone practically all day every Saturday. We kind of made a ritual out of it, and we learned a lot about Adam's life, like the fact that he had been living alone ever since Danny had gone missing from his life, or the fact that he was 6'11 (I almost choked on the food I was eating when he had answered that question (HOW?!)). We learned a lot about him over the phone, and even I had started to become comfortable speaking to someone who was not only older than I was, but was also Danny's father (I had harder times talking to the parents of people I know (not that I've talked to many parents...)).

I gave my fiance a weird look, wondering how he couldn't know about Halloween. Yeah, sure, he had been traveling with Cyril and his gang for most of his life, but they were traveling inside the United States! It's, like, _the biggest_ holiday out there next to Christmas! How could he _not_ have heard of Halloween or _seen_ Halloween in action when traveling in a country practically ran by its children?! It was ridiculous!

Danny must have sensed the thoughts going through my head, because he hung his own in shame. "S-sorry. I-it's a stupid question. Y-you don't have to answer it..."

I eyed him for a little longer before shaking my head, chuckling. "It's quite alright, Danny," I told him, taking a bite of my pancakes. We were eating at the Food Court that morning, a change from the usual of Danny bringing me my food. It was another change, too, because I was actually eating breakfast. Most often I skipped out on that meal, as well as lunch, only eating dinner most days, if I was even up for _that_. I really didn't eat much, a thing that Danny was trying to get me to make a better habit of, and a thing that was also a contradiction to my athletic legs and thighs, which were strong with muscles only good eating habits could bring. Another contradiction for the laugh was that I never did any form of exercise to keep my legs toned besides hiking up the mountains in the mountain province of camp, something I had to do again with Danny soon, because I was itching to sketch out the view from up there.

Setting down my fork, I proceeded to explain. "Halloween is a tradition we have chosen to keep up since the Celtic times, though the essence of it has been lost. Halloween was originally a day where the Celts would get together, create a bonfire, and dance in costume to ward off evil spirits. It took place on a day very similar to one it takes place on now, at the end of October, which is a time when the world is transitioning from life to death- the dying of the leaves on the trees."

Oh boy. He really shouldn't have asked me to explain Halloween, and Danny saw that clear as day. Once I started on something that I knew about, there was no stopping me until I was ready to stop on my own.

"However," I continued, on a roll now and bouncing excitedly in my seat as I spoke, "it was originally celebrated on November first, which was when the Samhain, who were the Celts, celebrated their new year's. If you were successful at warding off the evil spirits on the day after All Hallow's Eve, a-k-a Halloween, which was on the very day it is today, October thirty-first, it would bring you good fortune. Most often, after the warding off of spirits, the Celts would celebrate by having a banquet filled with treats and a hearty meal for all."

"That's very interesting, love, but wha-"

"I'm getting to that. As a matter of fact, I was just about to start on its relevance to the modern day." I cleared my throat before continuing. "Anyways. Over time, it changed from warding off spirits to kid-friendly tradition where everybody would dress in costumes on All Hollow's Eve, known as Halloween to most, and go door to door, being rewarded with either candy or a trick set up by the person who lives at the house they just knocked upon. Some still believe that by walking around in costume on that day, we frighten the evil spirits off with how scary they look, although to be honest everything has been made _too_ kid friendly to look even _remotely_ scary. But people still think that, from time to time. That's a _great_ movie, by the way."

Danny appeared immensely confused by my sudden change in topic. "Uh... What movie, love...?" He asked hesitantly.

" _From Time to Time_ , of course! We _really_ need to watch it. It's so sad, but it really speaks to me. There's this blind white girl who is best friends with a black slave of their household, and there's this other boy who is from the 'future', which is actually now. They all lived in a house where time is seamless, so at times it unravels, and the boy can see into the past, or the blind white girl and black slave boy see into the 'future'. And so they become the _best_ of friends over time, and the boy from the modern time-"

"Oh, okay," Danny quickly said before I continued further. "That sounds like a _really_ interesting movie, love. Maybe we can watch it sometime?"

I grinned and nodded excitedly at that. "Yes! We should really watch it! A lot!"

Danny chuckled at my enthusiasm. He took a sip of his water before speaking again. "So about this Halloween...?"

"What about it?"

"Is it only for kids?"

I couldn't help but to laugh at that. Once I had my laughter under control, I shook my head. "No, sweetie. There are plenty of people our age who participate with great enthusiasm, myself being one of them." I stated proudly.

Danny tilted his head. "Then why didn't you participate last ye- never mind. I know the reason." He sighed, and I bit my lip. I shook my head to clear it of the memories trying to intrude before speaking again.

"Would you like to participate this year?" I asked him.

"It depends. What's the 'treat' that you get if you aren't tricked?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

I grinned widely. " _Candy_."

Danny grinned as well once the thought settled into his mind. "Then count me in." His grin slowly fell to be replaced by a confused frown. "How do we participate?"

"By getting a costume, of course!"

"Where do we get one of those?"

"We go to town and buy them."

Danny's grin suddenly returned. "Sounds like the perfect excuse for an out - of - camp - date to me."

I couldn't help but to smile widely at that. "We can do that, too..."

Danny nodded excitedly before bolting to his feet, going around the table to scoop me into his arms. I yelped when he did, and earned a kiss on my forehead and a chuckle at my reaction. "Let's go do that now," my fiance said before beginning to carry me out of the Food Court and towards Salem for our costumes.

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "You have money for them?" I asked him as he carried me.

He nodded. "Zavid has been allowing me to trade in the drachma I've been collecting helping around camp for mortal money. It's how I bought your rings." He gave me a goofy grin, making me giggle.

"So you work to make me happy, is what I'm hearing?"

"Mmm... yeah. Pretty much." His goofy grin widened, making me giggle once more as he proceeded to carry me out of camp.

"How sweet."

"Only for you, love," Danny told me cheesily - if that's even a word - before exiting the camp, still carrying me in his arms.

...

 **Halloween history for you all! XD**


	6. Chapter 6

"Love, what is this?"

I looked over to where Danny was standing, holding up the light saber that I had just given him. It still had the price tag dangling from it, since we were still in the store, but when he asked me what it was, I gave him an incredulous look.

"You _seriously_ don't know what that is?"

"... A sword?" Danny asked, still confused as ever. He gave the "sword" a look that silently said _Why doesn't this have a blade?_

 _"No,"_ I responded, trying not to laugh at his look. "It's a _light saber_. My gods, we need to get you educated on Star Wars."

"Oh..." he drew the word out, clearly still not understanding. It took a couple of moments for him to ask the question I knew he was going to ask. "What's 'Star Wars'?"

I just waved my hand in response as I searched for a Jedi cloak for him to wear. Once I found one that would fit him, I finally and vaguely answered his question. "And that is why we need to educate you on it."

"Can't we educate me on it now, love?" My fiance asked, looking over the light saber and the picture attached to the price tag.

"Nope!" I handed him the Jedi cloak, and he took it hesitantly.

"Well... why not?"

"Because you need to watch the movies to be educated on it!" I responded as I started to look for Lord of the Rings elf things, even though I was too short to be an elf. Maybe Danny and I should switch...

Danny watched me as I looked around for my things, not asking anymore questions about Star Wars. He stood there, what I had given him in his hands still. "What are you looking for, love?"

For some reason I couldn't help but to smile that time when he called me "love". I don't know why I smiled that time, but I did. I loved it when he called me that. Every time he did it reminded me that I was his, that I had a place in his heart. It made me wonder why I had ever thought that he didn't care about me during my stay in the Medical Building, but... that was all in the past. It was time to look forward to the days we were always going to be together.

"Love?"

I hadn't realized that I hadn't answered Danny until he said the little nickname he had given me again. Blinking I looked around. "I'm looking for some Lord of the Rings stuff..."

"Lord of the Rings?" He repeated. "Isn't that one of the books that you had tried to read to me, but I got bored listening to?"

"I still can't believe that you didn't find it interesting..." I grumbled. Danny shrugged helplessly, and I chuckled. "Yeah, that's it."

"Oh... Are you looking for the Hobbin clothes?"

"You mean Hobbit?" I asked, chuckling.

"Oh..." Danny turned a little red. "Yeah. Th-that's what I meant."

Giggling, I went over to him and gave him a quick hug. Danny returned the hug, smiling slightly. "No," I told him. "I'm looking for things for an elf."

Danny looked down at me, an eyebrow raised. "Aren't you a little... _small_ to be an elf?"

"Hey!" I exclaimed defensively. "I can be a Half elf!"

He seemed to take that into some consideration. "Half elf half... what else?"

"Well, certainly not a _Hobbit_ considering my feet are so small..." I looked down at my small feet. They bugged me, sometimes. Even though I could wear size five in kids, it just proved to remind Danny just how small I am compared to him. "...and not a Dwarf, either, even though I would _love_ to say I'm related to Kili. Oh my gods I _loved_ him in the movies. He wasn't all that great in the books, really. I didn't really cry when he had died in the books, though I did cry a little because... well... I cry when _every_ character dies. But _oh my gods_ he was _amazing_ in the movies. I freaking _screamed_... maybe not literally, but I at least _yelled_ at the television in the Big House when Kili was killed in the movie. I-"

"Love?" Danny interrupted me, amusement in his eyes.

I blinked. "Yes?"

"You started to ramble again."

"Oh gods..." I didn't care as much as I normally would have that I had rambled, so I just shrugged it off. "Anyways... I won't be half elf, half dwarf, or half elf, half Hobbit, so that only leaves me the option Human. Oo! Maybe my father should be a _ranger_. Not Hypnos, of course. My fake dad! I _am_ pretty good at sneaking around, being mysterious, and just overall being a complete _badass."_ I turned around so I wouldn't hit Danny and pummeled the air a few times, earning a laugh from my fiance.

"That you are, love," he chuckled, wrapping his arms back around me. "Maybe that's what you are. Half elf, half... ranger, was it?"

"Nu uh," I said, shaking my head. "I'm going to be _entirely_ a ranger, now! I'm going to be just like Aragorn! _He's_ even _more_ badass than I am!"

"Aragorn'?" Danny repeated, furrowing his eyebrows. "Isn't that that guy from that one book with the blue dragon on the cover?"

I shook my head, chuckling. "No. That's Era _gon_ , not Ara _gorn_."

He didn't look like he understood the difference, but he nodded nonetheless. I made a mental note to write both their names on the same sheet of paper later to physically show him the difference of the two. "Okay..." He trailed off, seemingly unsure if that was what he meant, and I chuckled.

"I'll tell you more about the difference, later," I promised him, patting one of his hands that were still around me.

"Oh... okay. Thank you, love."

"You're welcome! But let's buy that stuff and get back to camp, yeah? I have everything that I could possibly need to be a ranger at the cabin."

Danny blinked his deep blue eyes. "You do?" I nodded quickly, and he raised an eyebrow. "What all do you keep in there?"

"Lots of books," I answered vaguely, "and things related to said books."

Danny chuckled at my answer. "Okay, love. I'll take your word on that. Ready to go and buy this stuff?"

I nodded quickly. "Mmhm!"

"Alright." He gave my cheek a quick kiss. "Let's go buy this stuff and head back to camp."

...

 **Lots of the dialogue! XD**


	7. Chapter 7

"What do you think?" I asked Danny as I gave him a small spin to show him what I had come up with for my Ranger costume.

Danny smiled softly. "I think you look _beauitful_ , love."

I made a face. "Are you going off of my looks, or the outfit?" I asked, feeling like he hadn't really looked at the costume.

Danny blinked his frustratingly deep blue eyes in confusion. "What do you mean? You always look beautiful, Ty. Why would what you're wearing make any difference?"

I chuckled. "That's not what I meant, sweetie. What I meant was what do you think of the _costume_? Not what do you think of me _in_ the costume."

"Oh!" He seemed to get what I had meant, and let out a small laugh once he did. "I thought you meant you in the costume. Sorry, love. Um... I think it looks great!"

I grinned. "Oh, but wait! You haven't seen me with the hood on." I moved aside my curls, searching beneath them for the hood of the costume I had pieced together, and pulled it over my big poof of curly black hair. It wasn't difficult, since I had taken it from a Grim Reaper costume I had had lying about, which meant that the hood was _huge_. I pulled it over my head until my eyes were shadowed from it.

Danny peered at me curiously. "Can you see, love?"

"Of course I can!"

My fiance continued looking at me with the hood on over my head, and I gave him another small spin before he finally grinned. "I like it. You look _really_ mysterious, love."

I grinned as well. "Just what I was going for." I pulled the hood further over my eyes. "Y'know, I sort of feel like an assassin from Assassins Creed." I grinned and pulled my bobby pin out of my hair, letting it lengthen to a dagger. "Got anyone for me to assassinate today?"

Danny blinked and took a small step back from me, eyeing me in concern. "Love, are you alright?"

I laughed at his reaction. "Of course I am, Danny! I'm just LARPing me cosplay, now, that's all."

He looked confused when I told him that. "What's... what you said? Cosplaying?"

"Costume roleplaying!" I told him, starting to get excited at the thought of cosplaying an assassin from Assassins Creed.

"Okay... I think I understand that, but... what's... larping?"

I almost smacked my forehead when he asked me what _LARPing_ was. It took some self restraint not to, and I had to remind myself that Danny didn't know most of what I was talking about when it came to books and video games, just the same as I wouldn't know what he was talking about if he started to mention and talk about his travels with Cyril and the other half monsters that had been banished from the camp. He was only trying to learn what I was talking about, even if he knew he wouldn't understand, and I had to give him credit for that, because most guys wouldn't try to understand me, saying I was too confusing for them and what not.

"LARPing is live action role playing. It's what one does when they're dressed in a costume, either from a game, book, television show, movie, or their own imagination."

"Oh... that's cool." Danny didn't seem all the interested about it, then, but at least he had tried to be interested in it before.

Once I realized he was no longer interested in what I had to say, I dropped the subject of LARPing and cosplaying, instead pulling off my hood and going over to the door.

"Where are you going, love?"

"I'm going to go see if the Hecate cabin can work some magic on these clothes," I told him, opening the door. "I _really_ want to be an assassin from Assassins Creed this Halloween, now." I slipped out of my fathers cabin and into the outdoors.

He followed me out the door, closing it behind him. "I thought you were going to be a Ranger from Lord of the Rings?"

"Pft. I can be that next year. This year, I _really_ want to be an assassin from Assassins Creed." I took Danny's hand and started to pull him towards the Hecate cabin.

My fiance chuckled as I pulled him along. "Well... alright, love. But... are you sure they'll be able to do it? Didn't Zavid ban them from physical magic?"

"Well, _yeah_... But... If they can at least manipulate the Mist to make my current clothes _look_ like the Assassins clothes, preferably Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, the-"

" _Who_?" Danny interrupted me, confused.

"The main character from the first Assassins Creed," I told him dismissively. "Anyways. I want my clothes to look like _his_."

"Oh... alright, love. But how long do you think they can keep up the illusion?"

"I think long enough. They only need to show me that they can today, and then on Halloween."

"Oh. So they aren't going to be keeping the illusion for the whole week till Halloween," he said more than asked, and I nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah. I don't want to drain them of their energy. It takes a lot to hold together the Mist so people can see what you want them to see. Maybe I should just ask them to teach me the spell for it... I can manipulate the Mist a little..."

Danny smiled softly. "Do whatever you want, love. It's your costume, your idea."

I sent him a wide grin. "And my idea is _amazing_ ," I said, stopping in front of the Hecate cabin door. I paused for a couple of seconds before raising my hand and knocking.

 **...**

 **Boop. :P**


	8. Chapter 8

**Honestly, guys, I have no idea what's going on so far. :{ I'm just writing.**

 **Ah ha. That was a mistake, but I like that face. XD I'm keeping it.**

 **Anyways! This is probably going to be the longest of the five-ish books (might actually combine four and five...), and total out to be around... eh... around seventeen chapters...? Most likely more at this rate... But... t** **hat's _assuming_ if I can type correctly. .-. It's a little hard to do that in the dark. :{**

 **Damn it... Did it again I wanted** ** _this_** **||||||| one. ;-;**

 **Assuming either of those { | are even going to work...**

 **Meh. Let's just... Uh... Type random things, now... Gods... where did we leave off...?**

 **Feh. Who cares? Let's just type.**

...

A knock on the cabin door was what got me bolting off of my bed.

"Grab the bowl, grab the bowl, grab the bowl!" I told Danny quickly. I tried not to stumble over my robes for my Assassins Creed costume (which the Hecate kids were holding up the illusion for _wonderfully_ ), but failed _epicly_ , ending up doing one of those awkward somersaults where you yelp and exclaim some profanities while rolling on your side and somehow managing to end up back on your feet in the end. I'm not even sure what happened, but I managed to pull off a fall with some minor skill.

It was an absolute _miracle_.

Danny gave me a weird look when I nearly stumbled into the door as I tried to recover from my epic and totally intentional fall. I gave him a wide grin, and he rolled his deep blue eyes. He joined me at the door, his light saber in hand and bowl of candy in the other, and I opened the door.

"Trick-or-treat!" The camper on the other side of the door held up a bag before blinking her amber eyes. "Ty? Is that you?"

I blinked my own eyes before grinning and sweeping the little girl into my arms and giving her a tight squeeze. She squeaked when I did, and it only caused my grin to widen. "Oh my gods! Danny! Look! It's _Willow_!"

My fiance blinked and peered over my shoulder, looking at the little girl curiously. "...Who?"

"Oh! Yes! That's right! You've never actually met Willow!" I turned around, still holding Willow in a tight hug, her feet dangling off the ground. "Willow, Danny. Danny, Willow."

"It's... Uh... Nice to meet you, Wi... Love, are you sure she can breath right now? You sort of look like you're... uh... perhaps... suffocating her a little holding her so close to your... chest..."

"Hmm?" I looked down at Willow, and saw the bits of her face that I could see turning red. My eyes widened in alarm and I quickly set her down. "Oh my gods, Willow! Are you okay? I didn't mean to, I swear!"

The younger daughter of Iris let out a heavy, dramatic wheeze. "I think you broke my ribs," she said, putting a hand to her chest.

I saw Danny's eyes widen at that. "Gods... Ty... I think you broke her."

I chuckled. "Oh, don't be ridiculous, Danny. You know I'm not that strong. Willow, stop being so dramatic. Stand up properly so I can see your costume in full!"

"Ugh... _fine_. But just for squeezing me so tightly, you're handing all of your candy over to _me_ for, uh... official checking of poison." She stood up straight. "Yeah. I gotta make sure none of it is poisoned. For... uh... the other kids' safety."

Danny's eyes widened further, and he poked around the candies in the bowl we had. "Do they really poison these things, love...?"

Willow grinned widely, and she nodded quickly. "Yes! That's why I need you to hand them over to me, immediately! You see this badge right here? It's an _offical_ candy poison tasting badge. I've been sent here to... uh... collect all of your candy so I can scan it for poison."

Gods. I didn't think it possible, but now Danny's eyes were bugging. " Love, I've been eating these all night! Why didn't you tell m-"

"Because they _aren't_ , Danny!" I exclaimed, laughing. "She's just joking around so you give her more candy than we've been giving the other kids. The only poison she'd need to be testing for is the candy _she_ receives, not the candy that _we give_ , since it came straight from the store. Nice police costume, by the way, Willow."

The daughter of Iris grinned as Danny turned red. "O-o-oh... I-I knew that... Y-yeah. I-I was just j-joking that o-one time wh-when I looked like I-I actually believed it... A _complete_ joke."

I bit the inside of my cheek, holding back a laugh as I nodded. "Mm hmm... Right... Well! Anyways! Willow, you get _three_ pieces. No hiding any up your sleeves in order to take more. I know that trick, because I used to _use_ that trick."

"Aww..."

"'Aww' is right. Now, Danny, come over here and let little Willow pick out her three pieces. Just like with the other kids."

My fiance nodded and held out the bowl of candy. "Don't take the fish ones, otherwise I might use my... uh... glow stick on you."

I giggled. " _Light saber_ , sweetie," I corrected as Willow picked out her three candies. I saw her slip a pack of Swedish Fish into her sleeve, but I let her do so, knowing Danny would probably go Jedi on her if he had seen her take them.

"Hey! It's a stick, and it glows! It's a _much_ easier name to remember than _Life Saver_."

" _Light saber_ ," I corrected again.

"Pft. Whatever." He flashed me a grin to let me know that he was joking when he said that, and I grinned back at him.

"Done!" Willow exclaimed as she grabbed a box of Dots and put it in her bag.

Danny tried to see the candies that she had grabbed and had already put in her bag without touching her bag. "Did you grab the fish ones?"

Willow looked a bit guilty as she shook her head, and Danny took her silent word for it. It was a good thing Danny wasn't very good at reading other people who weren't me facial expressions, otherwise he probably would have ended up chasing Willow across camp just to get them back from her. Gods. I shouldn't have introduced him to them last week while we were out getting some candy with my money, which thank the gods the card was finally working. He's been obsessed with them _since_. I haven't been able to get him to stop popping them into his mouth. It only took him to run out of the box of them I had gotten him and me threatening to kick him out of the Hypnos cabin to when he suggested opening the big bag of variety Halloween candy early to get him to stop. And now here he was again, eating them like it was nobody's business.

My gods what had I _done_ to him? He's going to end up getting a sugar high because of me, if he didn't already have one _now_. He sure did have an addiction problem...

Someone called Willow's name from across camp, and the daughter of Iris let out a small whine.

"Man... I gotta go, Ty. My dad wants me back in the mortal world, now, so we can go home. It was nice seeing you again!"

I let out a whine, too. "No...! But you just got here...!"

"I was here all summer!"

"I was busy recovering being out of the Medical Center!" I defended.

"Tell me about that next year. I need to go _now_. It was nice meeting you, Danny! Bye, Ty! Bye, Danny! See you next year!"

"Oh... uh... Bye, Willow!" I called after her as she ran out of our cabin. I closed the door behind her and grinned at Danny, who was standing there a bit confused. "Isn't she just _adorable_?"

"Yes, love. She is. But... uh... How do you know her?"

"Long story involving her running into me." I let out a small yawn and flopped onto our bed. "I think it's bed time..."

Danny set the bowl that was still a quarter of the way full of candy on a table in the cabin before sitting down next to where I had flopped onto the bed. "Don't you need to get ready, first, love?"

"Ugh... screw that..." But despite my words, I pushed myself back up into a sitting position before standing up and going over to my dresser for some pajamas.

Danny chuckled and did the same, coming over to join me at his own dresser right next to mine. "You know I'm right, love."

"Of course! Why do you think I'm over here?" I pulled out a pair of sports shorts and a tank top.

Danny shrugged as he pulled out his own shorts from his dresser before closing the drawer. "I don't know. You do a lot of things without reason."

"... Good point. I'm going to go change now, and then I'm going to turn off the cabin lights so no one comes walking back up here, okay?"

"Okay, love," Danny responded as I headed off to the bathroom to change. "Sounds good."

·•·°·°·•·

A couple minutes later, both Danny and I were ready for bed, and were in bed as well, Danny's arms wrapped around me to hold me close to him as we slept and one of my ears pressed to his chest so I could hear his heartbeat. Y'know. The usual way we slept every night. The lights were off, the room complete darkness, and while Danny was already beginning to doze off, I couldn't stop fidgeting, thoughts running through my head as I twisted the two rings on my finger.

After a while, I was finally able to voice the thoughts running through my head. "Hey, Danny?"

"Fish..." he mumbled.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at his word, making it clear to me that he was already asleep, but I couldn't let the thoughts I was having escape me. It was just too important to me right then that I had to talk to him about it.

Poking his cheeks, I whispered his name again, and he stirred.

"Hmm?" My fiance let out a small yawn as he slowly woke up. "What... what is it, love? Is it... is it morning already?"

"No," I told him. "I... uh... Just wanted to..."

Suddenly I wasn't so sure about what I had wanted to ask him. Was it a little early to ask it? Gods. Relationships were so confusing and complicated.

"Just wanted to what, love?"

I bit my lip and braced myself for the worse to come. "What do you think about kids?" I blurted.

I heard Danny's heart rate suddenly accelerate. "I... uh... I think they're great, and... uh... f-full of energy, and... uh...:

 _Danny, you know that's not what I mean_ , is what I wanted to say, but the words didn't come out. I had known the instant his heart started pounding that the question was a little early for him, and I understood completely. But it had been a good question to know the boundaries of conversation, so I had asked it, and I was rewarded with the boundaries.

Smiling softly, I nodded. "Yeah. They're pretty great, aren't they? Especially little Willow. Gods, I love that little girl."

Danny's heart beat started to slow, letting me know that my response had succeeded in calming him down some, and he chuckled to release the earlier adrenaline my question had given him. "Yeah... yeah, she was pretty great, the whole two minutes I got to see her. Completely fooled me with that whole candy thing."

I chuckled softly. "Yeah, that she did..." I let out a small yawn. "Well... you can go back to sleep, now..."

"Mm... Alright, love..." Danny let out his own yawn, a bit loud of one, and pulled me closer to him. "Goodnight, Ty," he mumbled.

I smiled softly and closed my eyes. "Good night, Danny," I responded, but he was already slipping into the dream world.

Chuckling softly, I, too, slipped into the dream world, my mind finally calm without the question running inside it.

 **...**

 **Danny pops first question, Ty pops second question. XD**


	9. Chapter 9

"Adam, Adam, Adam! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!"

"What, Ty?" He asked.

"We've got tickets to fly over there in two weeks!" I practically squealed the answer, and I saw in the corner camera that showed me that Danny was grinning behind me.

Danny's father chuckled softly as I bounced in the chair of the Big House, computer screen in front of me. Danny and I were Skyping his dad today after Zavid had set up a safe internet connection that monsters couldn't track to the camp. Gods. We hadn't talked to Adam in _forever_. Thanksgiving had passed, and that had been the last time we had called Adam. He had told us that it would have been nice to have us over, then, because, well, it was Thanksgiving, and he probably wanted to have been all sappy and be all like "I'm thankful my son is still alive", which I had _completely_ understood. But he had told us that we were welcome over there at _any_ time, and now we were going to be there for Christmas!

Okay, yeah, that meant that there had only been a week where we hadn't talked to Adam, but still! That was a _long_ time for me. Like, I felt _ancient_ at that point. Might have just been because I was tired, though...

"Is that so?" Adam asked me, , brushing aside his growing hair from his face. It was clear he hadn't gotten it trimmed recently. It was longer than normal, and looked a bit odd actually framing part of his face.

Danny nodded excitedly. "Yes! We finally get to see you! Uh... not on a screen, see you. Meet you in person! Yeah! That's what I mean."

"That's great! I can't wait to see the two of you in person. Have you guys decided on a date for the wedding, yet?"

Danny and I shared a glance, and I shook my head. "No, not yet. We were thinking maybe we could talk with you when we get there to figure out the best time for it to be."

Adam smiled softly. "That's very nice and considerate of you two. When are you coming down, again...?"

"The week before this this thing called 'Christmas', Ty says," Danny responded, his brows slightly furrowed. "Do you know what Christmas is?"

Adam chuckled slightly and nodded. "Yes, Daniel. I know what Christmas is. Are you guys going to be staying for it?"

Danny nodded, still confused about the concept of "Christmas". "Yeah, I think we are. We're staying for your Christmas, aren't we?" My fiance asked, looking at me with his deep blue eyes.

I nodded, and Adam smiled a bit more than he already was. "That's nice to hear. It will be our first holiday together as a family."

I smiled warmly when he called me family, and Danny did, too. That was the first time we had heard Adam say "family" when speaking about all of us, all three of us, monster, half monster, and demigod, that it just warmed my heart. _Family_ repeated itself in my head a little, ringing with a blissful sound. I didn't have any known living family, and now, soon, I was going to become a part of Danny and Adam's family.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, it will be our first holiday as a family, won't it? And I'm going to get you an _amazing_ gift, Adam. I have _no_ idea what to get you, but I'm going to be getting it."

The full hippocampus chuckled. "You don't have to get me anything, Ty. You bringing Daniel home is the greatest Christmas gift I could wish for." He smiled at his son, who had his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Wait, so Christmas you just buy things for each other and give it to the person it was for?" He asked.

Adam nodded slowly, pursing his thin lips. "More or less, yes."

"But it's the thought of those gifts that counts!" I pipped up. "If the gift was _made_ with care and love and thought, too, it would work as well. I actually think it would be a _lot_ better than getting a gift that was bought."

"But I can't make anything..."

I smiled softly. "It's okay, Danny. It's the thought that counts." I turned to Adam. "If you get him some Swedish Fish, he'll love you for a _year_ ," I told him with a wide grin.

"Hey!" Danny exclaimed defensively. "I'd love him either way!" He came in close to the camera to block me out of it as though it wouldn't allow me to hear the whisper he spoke his next words with. "But, seriously, if you got me those fish candies, I'd love you even _more_ than I do now. ...Until they run out, of course."

Adam chuckled as I shoved Danny out of the way. My fiance grinned at me before scooping me into his arms, making me squeak as he lifted me out of the Big House desk chair, and sat down in my spot. He settled me in his lap before Adam started speaking once more.

"I take it you like those, Daniel?" his father asked, a brown eyebrow raised.

My fiance nodded as I got bored in my new position and started to mess with his chin hair. "Yeah."

I chuckled at his simple answer and looked back at the screen. "He's, like, _addicted_ to them, Adam. He ate all of them out of the Halloween candy, except for the one that Willow managed to take under his radar."

"She did _what_?"

"Nothing! She did nothing. Danny, I _swear_ she did nothing but be cute the entire time she was there." I grinned up at him.

He narrowed the deep blue eyes that I had fallen in love with. "Uh huh..." He said, disbelieving. "Riiiighht..."

"Anyways!" I exclaimed, not responding to Danny's disbelieving tone. "Do you have a room for us over there, Adam?"

Danny's father nodded. "I do. Just as long as you two don't do anything... _inappropriate_."

"Oh, don't worry. Danny doesn't even know the concept."

"Hey! I do too! I just... uh... wouldn't feel..."

I chuckled softly and patted his cheek good-naturally, and he gave me a small pouting face, making me giggle. "You have nothing to worry about, Adam. Don't worry. I don't even work like that, either."

Danny seemed confused on what I meant by that, though Adam seemed to understand. He nodded slowly. "Okay. As long as that's the case, then you two are welcome to my guest room any day."

"How does two weeks sound?" I asked, ignoring Danny as best as I could as he began to poke my belly button, which had become exposed when he had set me in his lap. I squirmed slightly, batting at his hands to get him to stop, and he did, grinning.

Adam smiled widely. "Sounds like a good opportunity for us to get to know each other."

I grinned. "I know! Doesn't i-"

I stopped when the Big House door opened, and Zavid came in, the camp director looking exhausted. He lumbered over to the Big House coach and flopped down on it, quickly falling asleep.

"Uh... look, Adam... I think we need to go, now... Zavid looks like he needs the place to himself, now... We'll see you next week, yeah? Skype each other again?"

Adam pursed his lips and nodded. "Yes. Yes, I think I don't need to do any work, then, so it might possibly work with my schedule. But before you go, Daniel."

Danny looked up from where he was concentrating on making shapes with my fingers. "Yes, father?"

"Don't go eating too many of those Swedish Fish, you hear?" Adam's lips were twitching, a clear sign he was trying not to smile.

Danny frowned slightly. "Neither of you are going to let that go, are you?"

I grinned. "Nope!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll try not to. I don't need more chub." He poked at his stomach, and I patted it lightly after he had.

Adam pursed his lips. "Mmm... yes. Well, make sure you don't eat too many. They aren't good for you."

:But they're _good_!"

"Yes, yes, they are. I never said they weren't."

Danny shrugged. He no longer seemed to know what to say anymore, so he went back to messing with my fingers. I pursed my lips, contemplating on what to say next, but couldn't think of anything.

"Well, we'll see you over the internet next week, Adam. Until then, have a good day! And... days... in between."

Adam chuckled. "Yes. Same goes for the two of you. Until then."

He was the first to click around his screen, and our connection with him was lost.


End file.
